Going to the Immigration Office

Today I leave for the Nwodo house. I am going to spend the night there and early Monday morning Sr. Theresa and I take the bus to Abuja. Tuesday, we are going to the National Immigration Office and hopefully I can get my visa extended. My current visa expires on March 23rd which is coming up quick. I don't know how long it will take to get an extension but Martina suggested I pack enough clothes for an entire week. So once again I find myself at the mercy of immigration. They could extend my visa for one month or for the full six months or possibly deny me an extension at all. I hope to get the full six month extension but I am trying to prepare myself for the worst case scenario. Please pray for me and a nice long visa extension.

This week in Awkunanaw

So here is a recap of my past week:

Sunday: I went to church and on the walk home the nuns noticed that I was shivering in the 90 degree heat. They insisted that I go to the hospital where I was told that I had malaria.

Monday: I went back to the hospital for a blood test. I passed out and that got the doctors' attention. I went home and felt marginally better after four hours with an iv in my arm.

Tuesday: I thought I was dying, so I spent the day laying in bed.

Wednesday: I stopped vomiting but I was still exhausted. I spent another day in bed and by then the boredom was almost intolerable.

Thursday: I woke up convinced that I was miraculously healed. I went to school for Sr. Theresa's party and had a good time. But I was so tired that I actually fell asleep watching Super Story.

Friday: I felt pretty awful in the morning and I realized that I did too much the day before. The Sisters were concerned so they talked me into going back to the hospital. (Nuns can be very bossy when they want to be.) I saw another doctor, who gave me more drugs and told me that it will just take time to get over malaria, especially in this heat. After a long nap, I felt better and made it down to dinner.
This weekend there are seven Aspirants (possibly future nuns) staying with us. I always like having a full house, although it can be awkward making small talk with people who barely understand me.

Today: I woke up around six this morning. Last weekend I was too sick to do laundry, so today I washed almost every article of clothing that I own. After that I grabbed a quick shower and then went to check on Ngozi. She was just diagnosed with an ulcer and she hasn't been doing well. After my bout of malaria, I appreciate how much it sucks to not only be sick, but also bored and lonely. So I had a nice chat with Ngozi. Now it is 10:30 and I have run out of things to do.

So that has been my week. It definitely was not my best week in Nigeria but I guess I was bound to get sick eventually. I have a feeling that next week will be much better.

Oh and I want to wish my sister Becky and all fellow math nerds a Happy Pi Day.

I am back amongst the living. Last week was the sickest I have ever been in my life and I am grateful that I am finally feeling better. It is nice not having to vomit after every meal and being able to get out of bed. I think I would have cried if I had to go to the doctor a third time.

Today I left the house for the first time since Friday, not counting the hospital. Instead of normal classes, today we had a celebration/send off for Sr. Theresa who until recently was the headmistress. Sr. Theresa was instrumental in getting our school started, back when the neighborhood was still bush and other people were reluctant to come to such a poor and dangerous area. The stories of Awkunanaw a decade ago are almost hard to believe because today it is rapidly developing. Time after time, I hear people talking about the good things the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur are doing in Awkunanaw and around Nigeria. It makes me proud that I am working with these women.

So today was a fun day. It started with mass and then there were speeches and performances by the students. The last act was a traditional dance done by a group of girls. As often happens at this type of function, the guest of honor joined in the dance. Then one of the parents decided that the Onye Oicha should dance too, so she grabbed by hand and dragged me to the front. I don't know how to do a proper Igbo dance so I just tried to imitate the kids. Everyone in the audience was amused and the more exaggerated my movements became the more they laughed. The other nuns joined in and it was actually fun.

After the ceremony finished, we all went back to the house. Sisters Theresa, Florence, and Maria live at the John Nwodo house so we caught up on their comings and goings. I broke into the Nutella that Helena bought me yesterday, while everyone else ate moi moi and rice. To finish out the night, we watched our weekly installment of Super Story. So it is 9pm and I am exhausted, but in a good way. I am just happy to be healthy and amongst friends. Life is good.

Malaria sucks

It has been a couple of days since I wrote anything. This is because I have been too exhausted to post anything and also because the last few days have consisted of laying in bed, doing nothing.

About two weeks ago I started having flu like symptoms but after a few days I felt better. Unfortunately Thursday night I started feeling sick again and it kept getting worse. Sunday I started shivering in the 90 degree heat and the nuns decided it was time for me to go to the hospital. The doctor said that I probably had malaria but the hospital doesn't do blood tests on Sunday. So he started me on three different malaria medications and told me to come back Monday for the blood work.

So Sr. Helena and I went back to the hospital for what was supposed to be a quick blood test. Since we got the paperwork yesterday, I went right in with the nurse. She took some blood and sent me out to the waiting room. I sat down and I remember thinking that I really felt awful. The next thing I know, I wake up with Helena propping me up in the chair and a bunch of doctors and nurses asking me how I felt. It took me a few minutes to come around enough to realize that I had passed out. It turns out my blood pressure was low so the doctor started an IV. I felt much better after that but the doctor wanted me to get a second bag of fluids. So I spent four hours with a IV in my hand.

By the time my IVs had finished, the doctor had my test results back. After all of that, the results were inconclusive. The doctor thinks I have malaria but since I already had a couple doses of the drugs the results came back negative. So he told me to keep taking the drugs and to come back if I am not better in a couple of days.

So I must say malaria sucks. I can deal with the horrible headache, the vomiting, and the body aches. But what I hate is the way I am constantly exhausted, I wake up from a nap and I am still tired. I am also weak and shaky which is really annoying. The good news is that I have felt much better since the IVs. Tomorrow will probably be another boring day spent in bed but hopefully after that I can return to school.

Fly on the wall

Today I felt like a fly on the wall. Since it is still exam week there really isn't any work for me. For the last three days I have been typing a listing of all the school's textbooks and library books. Yesterday I stopped somewhere around the 900th entry. I am sick of hunching over the child size desk, typing the day away. So when Sr. Bernie invited me to come to her classroom, I jumped at the chance to do something different. I spent the day sitting at the desk in the back of the room, just observing. With the exception of yelling at a couple of kids for hitting each other and distributing toilet paper, I really didn't do any work today. After a half hour of last minute cramming, Bernie wrote the test questions on the board and the children wrote the answers in their notebooks. The school can't even afford the cost of photocopying tests. In between today's two tests, the children got their results from yesterday. Children who did poorly (a 20/30 or below) were flogged in the hopes of motivating them to do better. Teachers give harsher punishments for poor test scores. All week I have heard children crying after being beaten. It bothers me that I have become accustomed to floggings. I miss having work to do but I always find it interesting watching the children.